The Rickshaw and the Mercedes

I was walking through Brickfields today, on my way to grab a coffee, when I spotted an old rusty bicycle, with a small cart attached to it. A vestige of the rural past, it belonged to a, no doubt, rather poor old man who had brought his produce here to the small back alley market, to be sold in this gritty Indian dominated area of the city. What really caught my attention though, was that it was parked next to a sleek new black Mercedes, the type that, with import duty included would cost in the neighborhood of $USD 200,000.

The pic on the street, got my mind rolling back to a familar thought that the world is battling with daily, even though we sometimes don't realize it. That is, the slow decay of the ways of old, as the world becomes more more globalized, technologized, etc. As Mr.Tom Friedman has said, (paraphrased) trying to stop globalization is like trying to stop the sun from rising. It will happen, it's not a question. What I find myself concerned with is the loss of our cultural roots, and a transition to an almost zombie like consumer culture, that often seems to be the an effect, if not a goal, of development.

I am not suggesting that people should continue to live in poverty simply to satisfy my nostalgia for the ways of old. What I am more suggesting, is that we continue to strive for ways of preserving our heritage, wherever we're from, as a means of understanding ourselves, and our societies, and even as a means of maintaining our sanity in some cases.

What worries me, and what has always worried me, is that in the process of globalizing, we are not so much stamping out poverty, but in fact, often times creating a much larger gap and, in the process, we are stamping out the old ways of life. Some of which deserve to be so... such as the poor treatment of women. But are we also losing hold of some important cultural values? It is not to say that the old man with the rusty old bicycle does not deserve a better life, and a better means of making his living. It's a heartbreak to see someone that old pedaling a bike laden with heavy things in the stifling heat of Kuala Lumpur... Surely that old man deserves better for his life. When I worry about stamping out old values and culture, I look more to the scenes in the shopping malls of Malaysia and Singapore. Like America, urban and suburban folk in Malaysia and Singapore can be found in staggering numbers doing one thing on the weekends... shopping.

And yes, this is a sign of positive economic growth, increased affluence, and a more stable society, but at what cost? I've often wondered why it is we in America have so many people who suffer from mental illness of some form or another. In particular, depression. I have no stats to back this up, but my theory is that our melting pot culture, that has left many of us without strong cultural roots, family traditions, and values, has left a lot of people to wonder where they are coming from... which inevitably leads to being unsure about where you're going. Thats not to dis my country or my people, there are still many many positive things about Amerca and our traditions, but I just wonder if this trend of stress and depression, often leading to illness is not somehow connected to a sense of loss of roots, foundations, and culture. Unintentionally washed out by pop culture, a need to be hip and trendy, and the draw of wealth and prestige.

Just some thoughts for now...